


When Worlds Collide

by LegendaryGriffin



Category: Servamp (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Dragon AU, Dragon/Human characters, but will deviate when needed to, cute fluffy dragons, fur-dragons, servamp with a twist, shippings to be determined, similar story to the manga, sort of shapeshifting?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-21
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-10-08 20:42:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10395675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LegendaryGriffin/pseuds/LegendaryGriffin
Summary: For thousands of years, dragons have walked the Earth alongside humans without detection. They had to hide, for humans had once tried to hunt them down to study and experiment on their unknown biology. See, dragons are magical, in an elemental sense. Humans, being the greedy bastards they are, wanted this mysterious power for themselves and ever since these creatures had escaped near extinction, they had developed ways of hiding amongst humans to try and delete the knowledge of their existence permanently. It was a sad life. Most dragons never learned to fly or control their powers, and some even believed they were human entirely. However, there is a group specifically trained to protect their kind from the threat of humans. No one knows who they are or where they hide, but one thing is for certain… Without them, history would repeat itself.Their kind was never truly safe.





	1. A Fateful Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first solo addition to the servamp fandom on AO3! I've always been obsessed with the idea of dragons hiding amongst society in human forms and i've decided to try and adapt it into the original story ^^ There will be very different changes whilst following this plot so i hope it doesn't get too exhausting reading the same thing but different again, as i know there are many amazing stories that adapt their own flares to the plot.  
> Anyway, 'When Worlds Collide' is a story i will try to update when i can; however, i dont trust myself with that statement because my waves of motivation come and go quite quickly ^^'  
> I hope you enjoy! And I would really appreciate any feedback, positive or negative, as it helps me grow as a writer.  
> As for pairings, depending on how it flows it may lean towards KuroMahi. As for now it will remain neutral.

For thousands of years, dragons have walked the Earth alongside humans without detection. They had to hide, for humans had once tried to hunt them down to study and experiment on their unknown biology. See, dragons are magical, in an elemental sense. Humans, being the greedy bastards they are, wanted this mysterious power for themselves and ever since these creatures had escaped near extinction, they had developed ways of hiding amongst humans to try and delete the knowledge of their existence permanently. It was a sad life. Most dragons never learned to fly or control their powers, and some even believed they were human entirely. However, there is a group specifically trained to protect their kind from the threat of humans. No one knows who they are or where they hide, but one thing is for certain… Without them, history would repeat itself.

  
Their kind was never truly safe.

  
***

  
He could have been home by now. He could have finished his homework, done some of his chores and then finally commence making dinner. But he wasn’t home. He was staring down an unnaturally dark alley, eyes locked with glowing red irises. It was the same story Sakuya had warned him about. ‘A creature lived in the darkness of the alleys and lured poor unsuspecting bystanders in with a hypnotic stare’. He dismissed it immediately after he spoke. There was no way something that supernatural existed, and yet here he was. Completely frozen to the eerie yet striking eyes. He knew he should have run away. Called the police even… Not that it would probably do much anyway and so far whatever was watching him hadn’t moved, which brought him to the next question. Was it hurt? The whole reason why he had taken this small detour was because he heard a sound of destress. It was similar to a cat yet not as high pitched, sort of like a lion growl cross with a dog whine, and now he was beginning to suspect it was some escaped zoo animal. The sound was so pained he couldn’t just ignore it, but now he was unsure of what to do.

  
Whatever it was, it was bigger than a dog. That was apparent when it stood up to its full height, whining slightly in the process. It was definitely hurt, but he knew he couldn’t just walk into this pitch blackness and pet its head. Wild animals didn’t work that way. If anything he would probably end up attacked in its self-defence.

  
His thoughts were interrupted when the creature started backing away, knocking over a trash can in and yelping slightly at the noise as it turned around. On reflex, he took out his phone and turned the light on, hoping to catch a glimpse of what it was. He had to say… it was rather disappointing when a back fog obscured his vision. He let out an annoyed huff and turned the light off, instantly noticing the lack of red eyes and movement. It was a strange occurrence, but he shrugged it off in favour of getting home safely. He didn’t even realise he had stood there for almost half an hour because of pure curiosity, and he mentally slapped himself for getting so distracted. His simple schedule was knocked off track and now he would have to do his homework after dinner. Sighing again, he resumed his journey back to his apartment, all the while trying to shake the unsettling feeling of being watched.

  
***

  
He had said to himself he would do his homework after dinner. Usually he did what his mind told him to; however, it was past 6pm now and he hadn’t even touched his school work. Instead he was searching the web for anything that could explain the previous phenomenon.

  
So far, all he had found were some potential animals that could have made those noises and a page of different types of gasses and their properties. Nothing useful at all. Perhaps Sakuya would have more information? He seemed to describe something similar to what he saw. Maybe the joker had actually seen it too? He debated on the idea for a while before deciding against it. His friend would probably give him shit about it and tell some other wacky tale to play along and give him more grief.

  
Shutting his laptop abruptly, the teen forced himself to stop this nonsense and start doing some actual important work. He was just removing the contents from his bag when a loud thump reverberated off his window, the sound almost causing him to drop everything. He froze for a moment before slowly approaching the window too peer outside through the blinds. When he got too annoyed at everything blocking his vision, he pulled up the blinds and opened the window, leaning out to look below. There was no way someone could climb to the second story of a building, so he warily closed the window and dropped the blinds down again. Bats fly into things sometimes so it shouldn’t have been that surprising. Dismissing his jumpiness as still being on edge, he sat back at his desk and finally commenced his homework.

  
***

  
“Eyy! MahiMahi~ You look spooked. Did you see the monster?” was what brought the teen in question out of his zoned out state. He didn’t even realise they were currently walking out of the school gate. It took him a moment to process what his friend said before sending an unamused look his way. It was Sakuya, and he was making the most ridiculous pose with his arms out in front like some sort of grizzly bear.

  
“Sakuya, stop calling me that!” Mahiru shoved his flailing arms away from his line of sight and rolled his eyes, “Monsters don’t exist… and do I really look ‘spooked’?” He was slightly afraid that the events of last night had a lingering effect on his expression. Looking surprised while staring down an alley could possibly have that effect.

  
“Stop messing with him… It’s obvious he stayed up late last night,” Ryusei intervened from behind. He must have been really out of it if he didn’t notice all his friends were walking with him.

  
Koyuki must have seen his surprise as he gave him a concerned look and poked him to gather his attention, “Are you ok Mahiru?”

  
“Yeah, don’t worry. I’ve just got a lot on my mind…” the reply was a little distant, but it was convincing enough, “Anyway, I have to hurry home today since it’s laundry night. See ya later!”

  
Mahiru split from the group and waved before jogging back towards the apartment, a mock serious, “Be careful Mahiru!” from Sakuya as he turned the corner out of sight.

  
***

  
The original plan was to head straight back home without any detours. Original meaning it didn’t happen. Of course he ended up back at the same alley as before, subconsciously he even arrived at the same time as he did the day before. It was still oddly dark with faint outlines, similar to smoke, that could only be seen when looking up at a specific angle.

  
Mahiru was feeling brave and slowly reached his hand forward into the black smog. As soon as he submerged his hand, he instantly jumped back, stifling a yell when something hit him in the stomach. Hearing the familiar clang of aluminium, Mahiru looked down to see an empty coke can roll by his feet. His confusion further rose when a second assaulted him, hitting him square in the face.

  
“H-hey! I know that was on purpose!” his anger easily took over his caution as another two were flung at his direction. He was about to walk over and give whoever it was in there a piece of his mind, when a final can was thrown, this time hitting the back of a vending machine. It wanted more coke? Well, that was the message he got anyway.

  
Mahiru eyed the darkness as he made his way over to the machine, taking out some change from his pocket. Maybe he could convince this person to come out if he offered something. It already implied it wanted coke, so it was worth a shot. As he counted up the amount he needed another can hit the back of the machine, causing him to flinch slightly.

  
“Alright, alright! I get it! Just stop with the throwing!” Mahiru hissed, silently hoping no one was around to hear him yell at what seemed like empty space. He sped up his purchase and hesitantly headed back to the alley entrance.

  
“Ok! If you want this coke, you’re going to have to come here and get it! Unlike you, I don’t like dark, mouldy places…” he announced, unconsciously gripping the can tighter. He was met with silence. It was quite unsettling actually.

  
“If you don’t want to come out, then I’ll be heading off…” he didn’t even take one step before the black smoke surrounded him, completely cutting off his vision and sending literal chills down his spine. He started to panic. Maybe engaging with an unknown entity in a dark hole wasn’t the best idea… His eyes darted around, trying to find any source of light that could help him make out where he was. That was when he saw those eyes again. Not even a metre away.

  
Mahiru’s whole body tensed, praying that maybe it couldn’t see him if he stood still. It was so close he could see every detail of those red eyes. He began to feel a spark of hope when it looked away from his face towards his right. Oh yeah… he was still holding the coke. Without thinking, he held out the can in front of the creature’s face as a peace offering. A ‘don’t eat me, have this instead’ kind of a situation. Mahiru tried to get a better look at it with just the glow from its eyes, but it still proved to be quite difficult and required a lot of eye strain. He didn’t know what to expect, but he certainly didn’t think that the creature would gently take can in its jaw and leave. No vicious bite or threatening growl, it just… took it?

  
Not even a second later, a gust of wind forced him backwards and out of the darkness, leaving him only temporarily blinded from the abrupt reappearance of light. His vision soon returned to normal, just in time to see the smog recede back into the alley. In fact, it disappeared altogether.

  
“What… the hell…?”

  
***

  
The apartment door was shoved closed as a tired Mahiru leaned against it. It was a miracle that he even heard the TV running at its moderate volume… Wait.

  
Mahiru never left the TV on.

  
He willed himself to be more alert, shoving his tiredness to the back of his mind as he slowly peeked around the corner. To his surprise, on the floor in front of his TV was some random guy slurping instant ramen. This day just kept getting weirder and weirder. His initial reaction quickly changed to fear. This guy could have a weapon for all he knew!

  
“Wh-who...? Who are you!?” It wasn’t a subtle introduction, but he was too freaked out to make sense of it all. The window was open, but surely he didn’t get in from there… That’s when the memories of the last night came flooding back. Could this guy have really been the one to make that noise?

  
The stranger shrunk further to the ground, a very clear but uninterested, “What a pain…” being his reply. The tone of his voice seemed to eliminate the fact that the noodle guy could be a potential threat, especially when he turned around to continue eating.

  
“You can’t just barge into random people’s homes!” he grabbed the nearest item, ironically a broom, and lunged forward. If he was watching this from afar, he probably would have laughed at the ridiculousness of his attack since a broom just made him look like some grumpy old lady shooing someone away.

  
The swipe missed clearly, the intruder disappearing from sight and reappearing behind. What was he? A demon??

  
“Ah… Scary… I didn’t think this through at all…” it looked as if he was trying to pull the pity card, but the devoid of all emotion expression didn’t really work.

  
Mahiru went to take another swing, when the guy unexpectedly moved to the side, disarming, tripping and then finally pinning him to the floor, hand firmly around his wrist which was currently being held behind his back. The worst part was, he was pretty sure the guy had no idea of what to do next.

  
“Hey! Get off!” Mahiru tried kicking in order to escape, but his actions proved to be futile when something fluffy wrapped around his ankles and ceased his movements.

  
“Look, explaining will be much less of a pain if you just stop trying to attack me,” while his voice held some seriousness, Mahiru really didn’t like the attitude, and his statement only increased his irritation.

  
“What is there too explain? You’re an intruder, stealing my food and possibly adding more to the electricity bill!”

  
“It’s still not that bad…” When Mahiru groaned angrily, he decided to just get on with it, “I’m kind of in a bit of a dilemma regarding some annoying people.”

  
“Oh yeah? Did you break into their homes as well?” the sassy remark surprised the intruder but he didn’t show it.

  
“Not exactly… I’m being hunted down and I sort of need a place to stay to keep out of their radar,” he said vaguely, something Mahiru didn’t appreciate at all.

  
“What makes you think I’ll help? You could be some criminal for all I know.”

  
“I’m innocent, I swear.”

  
“Yeah real convincing…”

  
“Fine… I’ll leave when it’s dark. Just let me hang around for a bit until then and it’ll be like I’m not even here.”

  
“I highly doubt that…” Mahiru replied flatly, “but you still haven’t told me who you are and why you’re in my apartment.”

  
There was a moment of silence where Mahiru thought the guy was considering explaining further. So maybe he would get an adequate idea of what was going on?

  
“There’s no point in telling you if I’m going to leave.”

  
Well, there goes that idea. Honestly, why did he even expect more from this bastard? Mahiru groaned again before feeling the weight on his back disappear suddenly, causing him to get up immediately. After brushing himself off, he glanced over at the nuisance in the room and nearly fell over again.

  
“Wh-what’s that!” He yelled in confusion pointing at the extra limb that was currently moving from side to side from his lower back.

  
“Hm?” the guy gave him a bored look before seemingly realising what he was speaking of, “Oh, that’s my tail.”

  
Well that much was obvious, but why did he have a tail? He thought he only needed a few simple answers, but now? He could probably write a whole essay using only the questions he wanted to ask. It was bizarre too. It was covered in blue fur which faded to black at the end, but that wasn’t even the weirdest part. Adorning the top and bottom of the tip of his tail was a jagged, saw-like plate. It was quite interesting actually, except it also looked quite sharp and dangerous.

  
“Ok… Who, and what are you?” it was no longer a question he wanted to know, he needed to know. He couldn’t be human, it was impossible, and he deserved to know since this creature was in his house. Mahiru’s gaze shifted from the tail, which had moved behind him, to look at the too human face. For a moment Mahiru detected his slight uncomfortableness at being stared at, but it was soon covered up when he moved to pick up a coke can… and throw it at him.

  
He would have yelled and tried to shove him out of the apartment, but all he could do was stare back. Directly into red eyes. The realisation hit hard and it was quite terrifying.

  
“No way…” he started shaking his head in disbelief, “it can’t be… Y-you’re the creature from the alleyway?!”

  
“What a pain… yes.”

  
Mahiru couldn’t form words properly, and the incredibly calm response made it worse. Luckily, the guy… creature…? Automatically clarified the situation a bit. Just a bit.

  
“It’s a pain to explain… but as you’ve figured out I’m not human. I’m just your friendly neighbourhood dragon…”

  
Mahiru blinked, “Dragon…? As in, giant reptile that breathes fire and doesn’t exist?” He would have laughed, but suddenly it didn’t seem impossible.

  
“Haaa… Dragon is a term we use because we can do fancy energy stuff. We aren’t all reptiles."

  
It made no sense at all. Surely if ‘dragons’ existed he would have met one before now, “I-I don’t get it.”

  
“You don’t need to. Just accept it.”

  
“What kind of answer is that?!”

  
“A justifiable one.”

  
“How so??”

  
“Well, why do humans exist?”

  
“…”

  
“Exactly.”

  
“Argh you’re so infuriating! Anyway can you finally tell me your name?? I’m Mahiru,” It was getting annoying that he couldn’t put a name to this guy.

  
“We don’t really have names… Just aliases…” He noticed the slight change in volume of his voice and sort of felt bad for him. It would be horrible not having a name after all… Maybe going along with this guy wouldn’t be too bad even if he was some giant fluffy lizard thing. It was just until dark after all.

  
“Well, I can’t just keep referring to you as ‘you’ if you’re going to stay here… What about something simple like… Kuro?”

  
“Kuro… as in black…”

  
“Well you were living in a pitch black alleyway…”

  
“…Your logic is so weird.”

  
“Like you’re one to talk! If it’s that bad, I’ll just call you Fluffy.”

  
“…Kuro is fine…”

  
The newly named Kuro sighed and returned to his spot on the floor in front of the TV, opening a new bag of chips in the process. He was surprised the encounter wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be, although it was still too much of a pain to go through again. It didn’t concern him too much that he couldn’t stay here, but it would still have been a nice change from living in the streets.

  
Around 40 minutes had past and he was down to the third chip packet. His new roomie for the evening had just announced he was going out with some friends and that was a social even Kuro could deal without. That was before he caught the scent of something foul as Mahiru opened the apartment door.

  
This was going to be a pain…


	2. A New World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For a reference of Kuro as a dragon and in his half-transformed state: http://legendarygriffin.deviantart.com/art/Dragon-Kuro-mid-transformation-680478442  
> http://legendarygriffin.deviantart.com/art/Fur-Dragon-Kuro-631347473
> 
> And for a head shot of Berukia in his dragon form: http://legendarygriffin.deviantart.com/art/SerVamp-Dragons-Berukia-Belkia-644064689

Mahiru mentally slapped himself. What made him think leaving a complete stranger, who was a huge dangerous animal, alone in his apartment? The guy was infuriating and he doubted that his home would still be clean by the time he got back, if the mess in front of the TV was any consolation. He didn’t think the guy was ‘bad’ per se… Just odd and suspicious… and a slob. 

He sighed in exasperation, not liking this new and complicated knowledge that ‘dragons’ existed on the same streets he walked on. He was still confused about the whole ordeal and really wanted to know more, but he had a feeling that finding information would be a difficult task. He hated how suddenly the world didn’t seem simple any more.

Arriving at the meetup point, Mahiru scanned the crowd for his friends. They were supposed to be shopping for supplies for the school festival, and despite him being the only one required to buy stuff, the others had decided to help out. Soon enough, he spotted them heading towards his direction and Mahiru’s immediate thought was to tell them of what had happened.

“You won’t believe what just happened to me!”

“You put the dishes in the washing machine again?” Ryusei’s quick reply took Mahiru off guard. The moment he realised what his friend was referring to, he blushed in embarrassment.

“What? No! Why do you have to bring that up again?! It was a one-time thing! And you know I was tired!” His friends could be so evil sometimes… After regaining his composure, Mahiru quickly told them of his current situation. He began by explaining that he had a break in.

Ryusei held the same bored expression, unsure of whether he should take the story seriously or not, “A guy showed up… in your house… and ate your ramen…?” 

“Weird…” at least Koyuki looked as if he was considering it to be true…

“But he wasn’t human! He said he was a dragon, and he even had a tail!” the more Mahiru talked about it, the more he realised how stupid it sounded. If only he could just show them…

“Mahiru… You’re starting to sound like Sakuya and it kind of scares me…” Mahiru would have defended himself, but he couldn’t. He really did sound like Sakuya, and like Ryusei implied, it probably wasn’t a good thing.

“Well, where is Sakuya?! He would be all over this!” Mahiru was then interrupted by the sound of cheering not too far from their current whereabouts. Koyuki, unsurprisingly, was the first to suggest they should check it out. 

As the three drew closer to the commotion, they were able to make out what the centre pf attention was through the crowd. It was a street performance, specifically a magic show.

“Thank you! Thank you! You’re all such a wonderful audience!” 

Mahiru nearly went blind from how much pink he saw. Sure, Sakuya’s green hair was really out there and in your face… literally… but this intense shade of hot pink just screamed ‘I want attention!’

“Oo! Can we stay for a bit?!” Koyuki excitedly clapped his hands together with the rest of the crowd. They agreed, if only for Koyuki’s sake. 

“For my next trick, I’ll need a volunteer! Who would like to take part in my performance of mind control!?” the magician pulled out a gold pendulum from his hat, hanging it out in front for all to see. Mahiru had to admit he was curious; however, the smirk on the magician’s face somewhat deterred him.

“Ugh… This is lame… Let’s just get on with the shopping,” Ryusei turned to leave, already sick of the guy’s weird voice. He didn’t get very far before he felt someone put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

The magician ignored the disgusted glare sent his way and pulled him back to the centre of the crowd, “here’s our LUCKY volunteer! It seems my performance isn’t to this brat’s standards… Don’t worry! I’ll make it very interesting real soon…”

The passive aggressive tone was easily picked up on by Ryusei, leaving him slightly peeved that the guy chose him on purpose just to piss him off. So what if he didn’t like ‘magic’ shows? He had a right to not want to be anywhere in the vicinity of this weirdo. At least Koyuki seemed to be happy he was now involved…

“Let’s begin! All you have to do is stare at this pendulum and I will do the rest~ Easy enough right? Now sleep!” 

Not even a second later Ryusei suddenly collapsed, followed by the vast majority of the crowd. Mahiru stared in shock as the few others that remained standing finally made a run for it. He fought his own urge to run, as he couldn’t just leave Ryusei and Koyuki all alone. The magician’s proud voice broke him out of his frozen state.

“Whoops! That wasn’t supposed to happen~ Hahahaha!” As he laughed, large white and pink wings sprouted from his back and a long tail appeared into view from behind. With one quick flap of his wings, the magician was now swinging from a lamp post using his tail. Who would have guessed such insanity was represented by the colours of white and pink?

“Who… Who are you!?” Mahiru finally managed to get some words out, although it probably wasn’t the most useful question…

“How hurtful! You didn’t even show up for my introduction???” he replied, his large grin not leaving his face, “I am the great Berukia! Dragonkind’s favourite illusionist!”

“D-dragon?”

“Why the surprise? The scent is all over you!” he dropped down from the lamp post, lowering his voice to something more sinister, “He’s here isn’t he~? I’d recognise that feral stench anywhere…”

Mahiru’s immediate thought was the noodle guy, Kuro. Who else would this lunatic be referring to? He’s the only ‘dragon’ he had come into contact with so it was the only plausible answer. He still wasn’t use to calling them that…

“Come out, come out Sleepy Ash~! Let’s have some fun and MURDER th-”

A loud smash followed by the clatter of glass on cement interrupted the crazy magician-dragon mid-sentence. Mahiru barely had time to process what happened, as in the blink of an eye, Berukia was replaced by a crouching Kuro… or Sleepy Ash? Give him a break he was very confused!

His acquaintance was very different from how he looked before. In addition to the tail, he now adorned a set of huge feathery blue and black wings and large black cat-like ears, those of which Mahiru found himself thinking about how fluffy they would feel. He shook his head to clear the bizarre thought from his mind and watched the ordeal.

Swishing his tail in agitation, Kuro glanced at the brunet tiredly before returning his focus back to the enemy. He sighed and mumbled his catchphrase under his breath, weighing out his options at the current moment. No matter how annoying the situation was, he couldn’t run now- not with this rogue on the loose.

“W-what’s going on?!” 

Kuro rolled his eyes and stood up, tensing when he saw Berukia reemerge from the smashed-in store no longer in the half state, “too many questions… Just shut up and stay out of the way…” He didn’t feel like prolonging this fight any more than necessary.

“Argh… God damn you little fucker…” Berukia growled lowly as he prowled his way towards Kuro, an angry grin on his maw, “I invited you to have some fun! This is no way to treat your own kind!”

“…I don’t care, go away.”

Berukia’s expression turned sour as he let out a hiss, “Oh you must be disappointed you missed the show! Well don’t worry~ The next one is beginning right NOW…!” he leaped forward.

Kuro anticipated the pounce, whipping his tail around to plant a firm hit on the side of Berukia’s head, causing him to cry out in pain and collapse in front of him. It almost looked as if he was a child throwing a tantrum…

Finding the thought somewhat amusing, Kuro almost missed Berukia’s second attack- a tail sweep, in an attempt to trip him over. The fur-dragon managed to jump backwards just in time thanks to the added power of his wings; however, the illusion dragon gave him no time to regain his balance, successfully biting down on his arm and forcing Kuro down to the ground. Berukia had him pinned, and no sooner had he started feeling the illusory effects of the bite. It seemed this dragon had some form of hallucination venom…

At this point Mahiru felt like he needed to help somehow no matter what. He felt so utterly useless, and he hated knowing someone else was fighting to save others. But what could he do…? 

Mentally hitting himself for being too careless, Kuro struggled under Berukia’s hold. The venom seemed to trick his mind into thinking he had no strength, and it didn’t help that he was still recovering from the last battle. In one final attempt to free himself, Kuro tried transform further despite knowing a full change was useless. That wasn’t his aim, however.

Berukia grinned down at Kuro, refusing to let go and even laughing at his success. He relished in the fact that he had taken down seemingly one of the strongest dragons patrolling the area. His boss would be so proud~ When he deemed Kuro weak enough to finish off, he began charging an energy attack for the final blow. 

“Hey!”

Berukia glanced over to the brunet, surprised and amused that the wimpy bystander had managed to get over his fear. He hissed in annoyance as a blinding light invaded his vision, loosening his grip slightly as he tried readjusting his eyes to the evening light. 

The blue fur-dragon glanced sideways to find the kid with a shard of glass in his hand, no doubt reflecting the light from the lamp post into Berukia’s eyes to try and temporarily blind him. He had to give points for resourcefulness there.

With the enemy in a distracted state, Kuro initiated the small transformation. In a split second, a blue glow engulfed him and Berukia’s lower jaw was impaled by one of Kuro’s forelimb spikes. A guaranteed direct hit.

With a loud yowl the magician pulled away, falling to the ground once again with both paws over the wound. 

“GAH!! YOU RUINED MY FACE!! TSUBAKI WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THIS!!” 

Kuro slowly sat up, sending the blood on his jacket a disgusted look. He could have done without all of this extra effort and now his favourite jacket was ruined… At least the effects of the venom were disappearing.

“Kuro! Are you ok?!” 

Kuro snapped out of his musings when a concerned Mahiru ran over to kneel his side. He didn’t know what was more shocking, the fact that someone was concerned about him or the fact that someone wasn’t afraid of him. But when the brunet went to make physical contact, he stood up abruptly and shrank away.

“Oi, I’m fine. This is my job,” he expertly hid his pain, just as he always did. Just because someone seemed to care didn’t mean he was going to break that habit.

“But you look awful!” Mahiru continued. Like hell was he going to let the guy brush him off when he was clearly hurt. 

“I always look awful, it’s nothing new.”

Mahiru sent him a concerned look, but before he could retaliate Berukia made his presence known once again, “You’re all on a train going straight to hell! No one is safe from Tsubakyun, and he’ll make sure both of you pay! That is all for today’s show…”

The dragon faded from existence, leaving Mahiru confused and freaked out, “where did he go?!”

“Who cares… He’s gone, that’s good enough,” explaining all the illusory stuff was too much of a pain… Sighing at the troublesome situation, Kuro began his departure, not wanting to stick around when more humans show up. He would surely get the blame.

“’H-hey! Where are you going!” Mahiru ran around to stand in front of him, determined to help however he could.

“Away from here obviously.”

“But you’re injured!”

“So?” Mahiru sent him a glare and was about to scold him when Kuro continued, “You’re not my friend, I’m not your friend. We are strangers, no more. You don’t need to waste your time on me when you have actual friends that need your help.”

The brunet went silent at those words, not sure how he should respond. On one hand they were just strangers… But he felt as though he needed to repay Kuro for saving him and his friends. Besides, his statement didn’t add up to the events that had taken place.

“Then why make contact with me? And why follow me here?”

“I just happened to leave a few minutes after and came down this way,” he shrugged, hoping the kid would just take his half asses excuse, “I only fought because it’s my job.”

“No, not just now! The thing in the alley, and then showing up in my house!”

It was then the dragon’s turn to go silent. Why did he do that again? He was in trouble with the anti-dragon organisation again, but he had never really made an effort to ask for help until now. Then again, the previous week had been horrible and without energy he couldn’t really do anything at all, not even transform to his human state. It was dangerous being a dragon sometimes… When that same kid came back to his temporary shelter, he thought it was worth a shot at getting some sort of sustenance. There were plenty of empty cans lying around from random people, and his plan seemed to have worked since Mahiru had indeed given him a coke. But the reason for invading his apartment…

There was a brief moment where he sensed no fear, merely an intense curiosity. Sure his brothers and sister cared about him to an extent, but it was a first that a human didn’t seem afraid. 

“…Living on the streets is a pain… You were the only person walking by so I took advantage of that,” It was a good enough explanation for now. 

Mahiru sighed at the vague explanation but decided to let it go, “Well, you said you were staying until it was dark. It’s not quite 5 yet, so until then you’re technically staying at my place. Therefore, you’re my guest and I have to look after you.”

“…You’re not my mother…”

“I never said I was!”

Kuro ignored the brunet’s angry outburst and mulled over his decision. It would be nice to be looked after for once and he could easily get his energy levels back up… Despite how annoying this kid was he honestly didn’t think his company would be that bad. But even so, he would be damned if he sounded willing.

“…You won’t let me say no, will you?” the grin he received was enough to let him know the answer, “fine… you win. But I’ll only agree if I get full reign of the pantry and TV.”

“Hmm I guess that’s alright… as long as you don’t leave a mess like last time!” Mahiru gave him a stern look but also felt happy he managed to convince Kuro to stick around. This way he could repay him for what he had done and maybe learn more about dragons. Although… He would have to try really hard to get anything other than a lazy answer.

“Sure…” Kuro yawned and stretched his wings, noticing the other seemed pretty captivated by it. Strange human…

“Ah… They’re all waking up… I better go,” Kuro stated as he noticed the collapsed humans beginning to stir. The effects of illusion dragon attacks were only temporary, so they would probably just wake up really confused.

“Oh… I can send my friends a text saying I left early because of an emergency. Fixing you up is the top priority after all,” there was no way he could ignore Kuro’s health in favour for school. His friends were just knocked out it seemed.

“Ok… What’s the emergency then?”

“I don’t know, it’s laundry night so I could just say it had finished…”

“That’s a pretty lame ‘emergency’.”

“Shut up! It’s in-character of me!”

Kuro rolled his eyes, “Just say you weren’t feeling well.” It was the most effective and reasonable excuse Kuro had used so far.

“I guess…” Mahiru pulled out his phone and sent the quick message to Koyuki, “we should get going now.”

“Yeah…”

For the first time in a long time, Kuro felt happiness sneak into his heart.


	3. Hospitality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Berukia has a ref now!!! : https://legendarygriffin.deviantart.com/art/Berukia-Dragon-Ref-699877070?ga_submit_new=10%3A1503223522

The whole way back Kuro couldn’t get his mind off the current situation. It was just so foreign and weird. He was known to be a solitary creature and outright refused to make decisions himself. He was just a bystander most of the time, after all, unless he was really needed. And yet, here he was, following this incredibly average human back to his residence, and he couldn’t for the life of him figure out why.

He was positive that if anyone else had done the same thing he would have rejected any offers and left. In fact, he wouldn’t have engaged contact in the first place. He hated interaction, but for some reason this kid’s presence made him consider accepting the hospitality. Of course, for now he was merely going along with Mahiru so he could get his strength back. It was required to transform back into his full human form after all.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he accidently gripped the wound on his arm too tightly, wincing a little as he retracted his hand. That was the first time in a very long time he had outwardly expressed any form of pain or discomfort, even if it was slight. But it was obvious that the cause was that he was so out of it. He glared at the ground, annoyed at himself for not being as alert as he should be, for he was still in his half transformation state and if any human saw him, he would be in a hell of a lot of trouble. At that thought, he glanced around quickly. It wasn’t until he looked ahead that he realised Mahiru was looking his way.

“What?” Kuro sent him a questioning look; however, due to the lazy expression, it looked more like mild irritation.

Mahiru jumped slightly when he realised he was caught, “N-nothing! Just making sure you were still following is all, aha!”

It was a lie and Kuro knew it, but it wasn’t like he was going to attempt to figure out why. He huffed and instead voiced his concerns, “I need to get out of the open.”

“R-right. We can use the side streets and alleyways I guess,” Mahiru sighed in relief when Kuro didn’t question the staring. That would have made everything ten times more awkward…

For the five minutes they had spent walking, they had been in total silence, something Mahiru was unfamiliar with and he really didn’t like it. But, what are you supposed to say in a situation like this to an antisocial? He had so many questions, but he knew better than to pry into others’ lives for the sake of his own curiosity. Not to mention he was still a little wary about this whole ‘dragon’ thing. He was just glad there was some sort of interaction to break the ice a little, even if it was somewhat awkward.

“So… For how long have you been ‘in trouble’ for?” Mahiru tried initiating a conversation once again. He just couldn’t help it. That, and he kind of needed to know the reason for why he was being chased. Was that other dragon one of them?

Kuro just sent him another mildly confused look before shrugging, “my very existence means I’m in trouble.”

“That’s not…” Mahiru stopped himself from continuing if only because the obscure sentence made him realise just how dangerous of a situation he was in. Of course no one knew about dragons except their own kind. People fear what they don’t understand, just as he was afraid when Kuro revealed his true form for the first time. It’s that fear that turns to hate and recklessness. It’s the kind of fear that fuels people to subdue creatures like dragons because of their lack of knowledge. Overall, he was in deep shit if anyone found out about this.

Kuro broke his thoughts with a sigh, “the discrimination has been going on for centuries, don’t look so down. If you think about it, it’s understandable that the world is this way.” He was trying to help, but he didn’t think it was working.

Mahiru would have been glad he was being spoken to right now if it wasn’t for how grim the subject was, “I just feel really bad… You’re forced to hide because humans don’t understand you. It’s just not fair…”

Kuro thought about what he said for some time. It’s true that the common judgment was negative, but if there were others like Mahiru… if they were given a chance, then maybe… He shook his head. Already weird and foreign thoughts were filling his head just from meeting this one kid. He debated on staying quiet like he originally planned or…

“… It’s not like our kind didn’t bring this on ourselves…” the words were out before he could stop himself.

Mahiru remained silent and looked behind, noticing that Kuro looked as if he wanted to say more.

Seeing the reassuring look, Kuro forced himself to talk, “…I’ve lived for a long time. I was there when it all went to hell, in fact, most of us were. Since we have more power than humans we had to abide by specific laws. At first they were reasonable – don’t use your power for unnecessary causes, remain in your less intimidating form and help fight wars if it called for it. Most of us obeyed considering we wanted peace just as much as anyone, but there were always those who thought these rules were chaining us down, stripping us of who we are. We were all thinking it, it’s not like the rebels were the only ones with ideals.”

Mahiru slowed his pace until he was beside Kuro. He was sure the dragon didn’t notice with the way he stared down blankly as he told the tale.

“Majority realised that there was no gain from following humans. Why would creatures like us need to rely on these lesser beings? Why couldn’t we live in our own tribes with our own rules? It got out of hand to say the least… Laws became more severe, punishments were ensued, many dragons were put down if they so much as sparked. At one point we were all in chains because we accidently used our powers… They don’t realise that containing a dragon’s power has great consequences. After all, the more energy stored up… the bigger the blast.  
From then we all rebelled, killed our ‘owners’ and fled before hiding another hundred years or so until our kind became a myth. Since then a bunch of other stuff happened and here we are.”

The whole time Kuro spoke indifferently, but Mahiru could tell there was something more he wasn’t addressing, “well, times have changed… Maybe your kind will be accepted if approached the right way?”

The scoff he received was answer enough. Kuro obviously didn’t think that would ever happen… and he couldn’t blame him.

“There are organisations all around the world dedicated to putting us in chains. Face it kid, the world is a cruel place. It just doesn’t work how we want it to.”

Then they were back to square one – silence. This time it wasn’t as bad since Mahiru had new information to think over, but it did make him feel like he was a part of the ignorance even if not directly involved. If his reaction when they first met was anything to go by…

He hadn’t even realised he had reached the front door of his apartment, and it took him a minute to realise that the key wasn’t turning because it was already unlocked. He was fairly sure that wasn’t the case when he left since locking the door was an unconscious habit.

“Oh, whoops… must have been me…” Kuro mumbled casually from behind. He didn’t seem all that apologetic about it and Mahiru sent him an annoyed glare. He didn’t dwell on it though since Kuro didn’t have a key to lock it on his way out in the first place.

“It’s fine this time. Now come on we’ve got to patch you up.”

Kuro didn’t question the ‘this time’ part of the comment despite having the urge to make a half ass snarky remark about how his aura of soothing made anyone want to keep him around. Maybe next time. Great now his mind was conjuring up ideas…

“I’m fine, I just need to sleep for a week or two… no big deal,” Kuro sighed as he proceeded through the door and passed Mahiru as he turned to lock up. He plonked himself down on the couch, mindful of his wings, despite the complaining from the other. He lazily started channel surfing, tail casually swaying over the side of the couch.

“You nearly died and it’s not a big deal?!” Mahiru looked at Kuro as if he was crazy, his eyes drifting once or twice to the long furry tail. It was still unbelievable despite knowing what he was.

“This won’t kill me,” he replied holding up his injured wrist, “It looks bad but it’s really not.” He ignored the concern like he always had. There was no reason to let someone else worry when there was no need to.

“But… can’t you just let me bandage it up? I want to help!”

“Argh, so annoying…” he held his hands up to his fluffy cat-like ears, “you won’t stop talking until I agree, will you?”

“Nope!”

Kuro groaned in irritation before reluctantly getting up, “fine then… hurry up so I can watch TV.”

Mahiru wore a satisfied grin as he led Kuro to the bathroom. He honestly didn’t think the dragon would agree so easily, especially since he seemed like the type to blatantly ignore you. He looked over to the door as he opened the sink cabinet to grab disinfectant and some bandages, only to find the other cautiously entering through the doorway. His wings had lowered as to not clip the top of the skirting and his tail was curled around to the front, most likely so the sharp edges didn’t cause any damage. It was kind of cute in a weird animalistic way.

Kuro saw the curious look he was sending him and awkwardly kept his distance, “uh… being inside is a pain in dragon or half form. Too many appendages to worry about…”

Mahiru smiled in reassurance, “I figured as much. You don’t need to worry, but I appreciate your concerns. Now! Show me your arm.”

“Really, you don’t have to waste stuff on me. I’ll be fine on my own…” Mahiru just glared, causing Kuro to give up and drop it again. He pulled his arm out from his jacket sleeve and awkwardly looked away. He didn’t bother taking the clothing item fully off since his wings made that kind of difficult.

“Jeez! This looks horrible! How the hell did your arm not break?!” Mahiru cringed at the bite wound before getting started with cleaning it.

“I’m a dragon. It takes more than that to do serious damage, even if I’m low on energy,” he kept a straight face despite the sting. It was strange getting cared of but not unfamiliar. There were plenty of times when his family would hassle him about being more careful as they fixed him back up, but this time it was with someone he barely knew.

…Was it bad to let his guard down from the hospitality he was given so far?

“So, how do you get your energy back...?” Mahiru broke the silence once again as he began dressing the wound carefully. He was hoping to get a little more info on dragons since he knew he was going to force Kuro to stay until he was fully recovered.

“Like any species does. Food and sleep basically. Sometimes we come across special energy infused canisters, but you can only get those back at HQ or on the black market… Such a pain… would be nice right now…”

Mahiru paused what he was doing momentarily. Dragons had a black market? What the hell? It seemed as though there was a whole other world he was living right beside…

“Seems easy to sort out… Also, are you able to tell me more about your kind? I’m really interested in learning more and I’m hoping to be able to hel-“

“There’s no point in telling you useless information. Once I get back to the others they are going to send an illusion dragon out here to erase your memory. A lot of the knowledge we possess is classified to the human race for obvious reasons. I apologise for getting you involved, it was stupid of me and I should have thought it through.”

The seriousness and authority was completely new to Mahiru and it stunned him for a few moments, “but-“

“No. This was all a stupid mistake… I was supposed to finish my mission and head back, not babysit some kid- OW”

Mahiru tugged on the bandage a little to shut him up, “Hey! I’m the one doing the babysitting! Besides you needed help! You _still_ need help! I won’t try and ask any more questions but you didn’t have to be an asshole about it! Also, I have a name. It’s Mahiru remember? Simple.”

Kuro’s ears flattened at the shouting and they remained against his head even after it went quiet. He now felt guilty for shutting down the other the way he did after all the kid- Mahiru- had done for him. Which was a fucking lot more than Kuro would have ever imagined…

Mahiru had soon finished, packed everything up and left the bathroom in an obviously bad mood, leaving Kuro to his own thoughts. It wasn’t like he meant to upset the other, just deter him from asking more questions. Usually the intimidation method worked, then again it wasn’t like the mentality of humans and dragons were the same. He sighed and leaned against the wall. He knew he had to apologise, but he also felt like jumping out a window so he wouldn’t have to face the disappointment again.

He also considered revealing some unimportant information to cheer Mahiru up since he really did look excited to know more. He kind of wanted to see the other happy again considering how it seemed to be contagious. That guy was just so cheerful that that it blinded him. He made up his mind and slowly stalked out of the bathroom.

“Mahiru…”

The brunet in question turned to him in surprise, waiting for Kuro continue.

“S-sorry…”

“Apology accepted,” he smiled and gestured to the chairs on the other side of the kitchen bench. The lack of hesitation and the fact he looked fine again caused Kuro to sigh.

“How exhausting…” he had mulled over how to fix this for a solid ten minutes and all he had to do was say sorry…

“Anyway, I was going to make a quick curry, but I need to know if dragons have any special dietary requirements,” the smile never left Mahiru’s face.

“Uh… not really. Just not an excessive amount of plant stuff,” Kuro responded way too easily, “oh wait… I lied. Dragons live off instant ramen most of the time. Ramen chips and coke give us the most energy.”

“I don’t believe that!” came the snappy reply.

“Mean…”

***

Mahiru finished rinsing the dishes and stacked them in the dishwasher before returning to the couch to find the dragon sprawled out on the couch on his stomach. He leaned on the back of the couch, looking down at the dragon.

“Hey Kuro…” he received a grumble in reply, “…Can I ask you a question…?”

It was silent for a moment, “…Yeah, but I’ll only answer it if I can.”

“Well, back with that other dragon, he used this pendulum to knock everyone out but… Some weren’t affected? Is there a reason for that?”

“Hnn, well it could be a few things. He could have wanted to see others in fear or maybe for them to spread word about him. Dragons like that guy crave attention. It could have also been just targeting humans since low level illusions don’t affect other dragons… Since you weren’t affected it was probably for fear or attention.”

“I see…” Mahiru thought about it for a moment, “Hey Kuro, what about his powers? What about yours? You said he was an illusion dragon, so does that mean there are different types? You never used yours while fighting and I was kind of disappointed because-”

Kuro growled and turned so he could face up at Mahiru, “So many questions what a pain… Can I play 20 questions with you tomorrow? I’m too tired…”

“Oh right, sorry…” Mahiru said sheepishly, “You alright with sleeping here? I can set up my uncle’s room if you like?”

“Na, here’s fine…” he face-planted into the pillow and tucked his wings in, tail curled around to rest on his side.

“Suit yourself… Goodnight!” Mahiru happily walked off after hearing a grunt as a reply. He was looking forward to what the next day would bring, especially since having someone else in the apartment was a nice change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I will be happy to answer any questions regarding the universe this story is set in ^^


End file.
